December 2015 Pt. 1

Jurassic World
Stars - Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard
Plot - Jurassic Park is open, thriving and successful... until they create a new dinosaur to bolster attendance, which is never a good idea.
Thoughts - I am not going to sit here and pretend that Jurassic World is any kind of deep, meaningful, thought provoking film, but, my gosh if it isn't fun! The special effects are insane, the performances are fun and solid, and the ending is intense.
Grade - B

Inside Out
Stars - the voices of Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling, Phyllis Smith
Plot - The inner workings of the mind of an 11 year old girl (Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust) are thrown out of whack when her family moves from Minnesota to San Francisco.
Thoughts - Intended for children, this Pixar film has a lot to offer adults as well. This is a thoughtful, funny, heartbreaking and heart warming movie about growing up and learning that joy and sadness really go hand in hand.
Grade - B +

Amy
Plot - A documentary about the short, tumultuous life of the late Amy Winehouse.
Thoughts - This is a staggering and powerful look at Amy's life and profound talent. The doc follows her from bright faced young talent to the depths of her drug fueled downfall. This is sometimes hard to watch, but it's endlessly fascinating. Amy had the opportunity to be the voice of her generation, but her demons got the best of her.
Grade - B +

Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Stars - Oscar Isaac, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Harrison Ford, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson
Plot - It's basically a rehashed plot of episode 4...
Thoughts - ...but that's not necessarily a bad thing. This Star Wars movie is everything you could possibly want. Sure, the plot feels stale, but the cast and effects are fresh. This is a fun, nostalgic, funny, heart warming epic that is worth the wait and more than lives up to the hype. Also, bonus points for a bad ass female lead who can take care of herself and doesn't need a man to save her!
Grade - A-

The Big Short
Stars - Christian Bale, Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt
Plot - A look at the mortgage crisis of 2008 and the way it altered our economy.
Thoughts - This might be the smartest, funniest, weirdest movie of the year. It is the only movie in the history of the movies which includes both a quote from Mark Twain and an interlude where Selena Gomez explains advanced economics to the audience. The performances are spectacular, from the stars to the supporting players. And this is a fast paced, frenetic good time.
Grade - A-

The Danish Girl
Stars - Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander
Plot - The story of the first Transgender artist, and the wife that stood by his side.
Thoughts -  I actually really enjoyed this love story initially. The performances are powerful and the cinematography is gorgeous. My biggest problem is that it felt detached and cold and illicited no real feelings. Then I did a little research and discovered the REAL story, which is far more interesting than the watered down version presented in this film.
Grade - B-

Guardians of the Galaxy

Here is the biggest problem with any movie in general and Guardians of the Galaxy in particular - when the character you relate most to on a humane level is a giant, talking tree.

Guardians of the Galaxy is sort of the boozy, rowdy, more rough and tumble version of The Avengers. They are led by Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), who calls himself Star Lord, and he's sort of like a poor man's Han Solo - a bad ass, cool, ladies man in space. He was abducted from Earth when he was 8 and has spent his formative years as a planet jumping scavenger. When he happens upon an orb that may or may not have the power to destroy the world, he must team up with a rag tag group of misfits in order to defeat evil and save the world. It's pretty much the plot of the Avengers, or any Marvel movie, really, but with different characters. This time around we've got Gamora (Zoe Saldana, who somehow has managed to get a part in just about every franchise or big budget movie of the last 8 years or so without really demonstrating any talent), a green skinned assassin, Draxx (wrestler Bautista), a red skinned, hugely muscled, very literal tough guy, Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), a foul mouthed, machine gun wielding raccoon, and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), the aforementioned tree who can only say "I am Groot" and is also, hands down, the best part of the movie. The rest of the highly eclectic cast includes Oscar winners Glenn Close (as the leader of a planet, or something) and Benicio Del Toro (as The Collector), and TV stars like Michael Rooker (as an interplanetary bad ass, obviously), and Lee Pace (whose otherworldly beauty is wasted, hidden behind make up and giant head dresses).

Now, I'm not saying Guardians of the Galaxy is bad, per se, but it's also not really all that good. I saw the movie a week later than everyone else and the hype was already fully formed. I'd read the reviews, saw my friends raves on Facebook and Twitter, saw all the commercials announcing it as the best movie of the summer. I have to say, I was thoroughly disappointed. I was expecting a non-stop thrill ride, a funny, exciting, non-stop comic/action movie. I didn't get any of that. The funniest parts of the movie were in the trailer, and the action is fine, if not terribly jumbled (it's possible to make a movie where you can film action scenes and still know what is happening - just ask the guy that directed The Winter Soldier). The movie takes quite a while to even get started, but there are fun moments, and Pratt is definitely deserving of his sudden thrust onto the A-List. Dude has great charisma and is charming as hell (also, those abs). But, like I said, we don't care about any of these characters, except for a giant, CGI tree who can only say three words. The soundtrack is fun and parts of the movie are enjoyable, but for the most part this movie just falls into the realm of so many other Marvel movies for me - a giant disappointment. This movie surely seems like a wasted opportunity for me and like I've said, the bar has been raised this summer. There are far better movies than this, which is merely mediocre, at best.

Grade: C